System and methods for detection of subjects vitals and physiological symptoms via non-contact methods

Abstract

The present invention provides a non-contact vital sign monitoring which properly detect subject's vital signs by correcting the measured signals for reflectance and variations in distance between measurements. The present invention provides for adequate sensor numbers and types to properly monitor a subject's vitals and physiological signals. Certain aspects of the invention include the use of signal scoring methods. In such embodiments, acquired data and/or information is used for scoring a signal acquired from non-contact vital monitoring assisting in the accurate measurement of various vitals of a subject, including, without limit, a subjects temperature, cardiovascular and respiratory information. The present invention provides a viable solution for at-a-distance non-contact vital sign monitoring that overcomes the shortcomings of existing solutions known in the art.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for at-a-distance non-contact monitoring of one or more vital signs of a subject, the system comprising:
 at least one detection device that detects one or more signals from a living body without any physical contact to said living body, wherein said detection device comprises at least one RF transmitter and at least one RF receiver, and wherein said one or more signals is an RF signal transmitted from said RF transmitter and received by said RF receiver from the reflection of the transmitted RF signal from said living body; 
 at least one computing device for receiving said one or more signals from said at least one detection device, and analyzing said one or more signals to estimate one or more vital signs of a said living body, wherein said one or more vital signs comprise heart rate and respiratory rate; and 
 at least one monitoring device allowing one or more user to monitor said one or more vital signs computed by said at least one computing device; 
 wherein the at least one computing device contains a non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions, that when executed perform the method of: 
 transmitting the RF signal from the at least one RF transmitter; 
 receiving the RF signal reflected from said living body by the at least one RF receiver; 
 analyzing the RF signal received by the one or more RF receiver to detect one or more vital sign of said living body; 
 determining a signal strength and quality score of the one or more vital sign identified in the RF signal, wherein determining the signal strength and quality score further comprises: 
 a) evaluating the one or more RF signal based on analog signals received from the RF signal transmitted from said RF transmitter and reflected back from said living body by processing the RF signal received through a digital to analog converter (DAC) to provide the heart rate of said living body, evaluating the signal strength and generating a scale of signal strength using a time-scale to determine the heart rate, wherein the more inconsistent or fluctuating of the heart rate, the lower the quality score, and wherein the more consistent or non-fluctuation of the heart rate, the higher the quality score; and 
 b) evaluating the one or more RF signal based on analog signals received from the RF signal transmitted from said RF transmitter and reflected back from said living body by processing the one or more RF signal received through the DAC to provide the respiratory rate of said living body, evaluating the signal strength and generating a scale of signal strength using a time-scale to determine the respiratory rate, wherein the more inconsistent or fluctuating of the respiratory rate, the lower the quality score, and wherein the more consistent or non-fluctuation of the respiratory rate, the higher the quality score; and 
 communicating a filtered one or more vital signs of said living body being monitored to said at least one monitoring device. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1  further comprising at least one distance sensor for detecting the distance between said living body and said at least one detection device. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1  further comprising an audio detection device and an image detection device. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1  further comprising a thermal detection device for measuring temperature of said living body. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1  further comprising at least one RF signal modulator and at least one RF signal demodulator. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1  further comprising a housing for enclosing one or more of at least one detection device, at least one computing device, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1  wherein said at least one monitoring device is one or more of an audio interface, an image display, a data transmitter, a mobile device, a data storage system, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 2  wherein said at least one distance sensor is Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). 
     
     
       9. A system for at-a-distance non-contact monitoring of one or more vital signs of a subject, the system comprising:
 at least one detection device that detects one or more signals from a living body without any physical contact to said living body, wherein said detection device comprises at least one RF transmitter and at least one RF receiver, and wherein said one or more signals is an RF signal transmitted from said RF transmitter and received by said RF receiver from the reflection of the transmitted RF signal from said living body; 
 at least one computing device for receiving said one or more signals from said at least one detection device, and analyzing said one or more signals to estimate one or more vital signs of said living body, wherein said one or more vital signs comprise heart rate and respiratory rate; 
 at least one monitoring device allowing one or more user to monitor said one or more vital signs computed by said at least one computing device; 
 at least one distance sensor to detect the distance between said at least one living body and said at least one detection device; and 
 at least one RF signal demodulator; 
 wherein the at least one computing device contains a non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions, that when executed perform the method of: 
 transmitting the RF signal from the at least one RF transmitter; 
 receiving the RF signal reflected from said living body by the at least one RF receiver; 
 analyzing the RF signal received by the one or more RF receiver through the use of the RF signal demodulator to detect one or more vital sign of said living body; 
 calculating the distance between said detection device and said living body; 
 determining a signal strength and quality score of the one or more vital sign identified in the RF signal, wherein determining the signal strength and quality score further comprises: 
 a) evaluating the one or more RF signal based on analog signals received from the RF signal transmitted from said RF transmitter and reflected back from said living body by processing the RF signal received through a digital to analog converter (DAC) to provide the heart rate of said living body, evaluating the signal strength and generating a scale of signal strength using a time-scale to determine the heart rate, wherein the more inconsistent or fluctuating of the heart rate, the lower the quality score, and wherein the more consistent or non-fluctuation of the heart rate, the higher the quality score; and 
 b) evaluating the one or more RF signal based on analog signals received from the RF signal transmitted from said RF transmitter and reflected back from said living body by processing the one or more RF signal received through the DAC to provide the respiratory rate of said living body, evaluating the signal strength and generating a scale of signal strength using a time-scale to determine the respiratory rate, wherein the more inconsistent or fluctuating of the respiratory rate, the lower the quality score, and wherein the more consistent or non-fluctuation of the respiratory rate, the higher the quality score; 
 extrapolating and filtering the physiological signals of said living body being monitored using the information calculated using the distance sensor; 
 communicating the filtered one or more vital signs of said living body being monitored to said at least one monitoring device. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9  further comprising an audio detection device and an image detection device. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 9  further comprising a thermal detection device for measuring temperature of said living body. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 9  further comprising at least one RF signal modulator. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 9  further comprising a housing for enclosing one or more of said at least one detection device, at least one computing device, at least one RF demodulator, at least one distance sensor, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 9  wherein said at least one monitoring device is one or more of an audio interface, an image display, a data transmitter, a mobile device, a data storage system, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 9  wherein said at least one distance sensor is Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). 
     
     
       16. A system for at-a-distance non-contact monitoring of one or more vital signs of a subject, the system comprising:
 at least one detection device that detects one or more signals from a living body without any physical contact to said living body; 
 at least one computing device for receiving said one or more signals from said at least one detection device, and analyzing said one or more signals to estimate one or more vital signs of said living body, wherein said one or more vital signs comprise heart rate, respiratory rate, or body temperature; and 
 at least one monitoring device allowing one or more user to monitor said one or more vital signs computed by said at least one computing device; 
 wherein the at least one computing device contains a non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions, that when executed perform the method of: 
 receiving one or more data signal from the one or more detection device monitoring said living body; 
 analyzing the one or more data signal received by said one or more detection device to detect one or more vital sign of said living body being monitored; 
 determining a signal strength and quality score of the one or more vital sign identified in the one or more data signal, wherein determining the signal strength and quality the score further comprises: 
 a) evaluating the one or more data signal received from the one or more detection device monitoring said living body to determine the heart rate of said living body, evaluating the signal strength of the heart rate and generating a scale of the signal strength using a time-scale to determine the heart rate, wherein the more inconsistent or fluctuating of the heart rate, the lower the quality score, and wherein the more consistent or non-fluctuation of the heart rate, the higher the quality score; and 
 b) evaluating the one or more data signal received from the one or more detection device monitoring said living body to determine the respiratory rate of said living body, evaluating the signal strength of the respiratory rate and generating a scale of the signal strength using a time-scale to determine the respiratory rate, wherein the more inconsistent or fluctuating of the respiratory rate, the lower the quality score, and wherein the more consistent or non-fluctuation of the respiratory rate, the higher the quality score; 
 communicating the one or more vital signs of said living body being monitored to said at least one monitoring device. 
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 16  wherein said detection device is one or more of at least one RF transmitter, at least one RF receiver, at least one audio detection device, at least one image detection device, at least one thermal detection device, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 16  further comprising at least one distance sensor for measuring the distance between said living body and said at least one detection device. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 16  further comprising a housing for enclosing at least one of said at least one detection device, or said at least one computing device. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 16  wherein said at least one monitoring device is an audio interface, an image display, a data transmitter, a mobile device, or a data storage system.